Have I got news for you
Paul can’t sing or dance but he’s heading for Hairspray
Funnyman Paul merton will make his West End debut with his arms wrapped around michael Ball in the musical Hairspray.
The comic star, best known for his appearances on long-running shows Have I Got news For you (on BBC TV) and Just a minute (Radio 4), will play joke- store owner and hopeless romantic Wilbur Turnblad — husband to Ball’s agoraphobic laundress Edna Turnblad in the show, which will run at the London Coliseum from april 23 for an 18-week season.
merton told me he was rather surprised to be offered the part because he neither sings nor dances. ‘ They must know what they’re doing,’ he said, before recounting the time he played Widow Twankey in panto in Wimbledon . . . and the choreographer gave up on him. ‘ Some people can’t dance, and I think I’m one of them.’
He mentioned the song in Hairspray called you Can’t Stop The Beat, ‘but in my case it’s you Can’t Find the Beat’.
However, he also reasoned that ‘I’m in the capable hands of michael Ball . . . He’s won an Olivier award and he’s going to be top notch, first class. also, I have something to aim for.’
The role of Wilbur was played by veteran hoofer Dick Latessa in the original Broadway production, but over here, the tendency has been to cast the part with big-name comedians.
Producer adam Spiegel signed mel Smith to launch the London production with Ball back in 2007. He acknowledged merton’s lack of song and dance prowess. ‘ I don’t think either are his greatest strengths,’ he said, ‘but he’s a dedicated student of comedy and a fan of vaudeville. He needs to be funny and sincere, which he is in spades. He doesn’t need to be Kiri Te Kanawa.’ MERTON said he’s pleased to be working for the musical’s Broadway director Jack O’Brien and choreographer Jerry mitchell. He’s been a fan of musicals ever since he saw michael Crawford in Billy (‘I saw it three times, from the very top of the gods, for 50 pence a ticket’). ‘This is a great opportunity to be in something right outside my comfort zone,’ he said.
He said he could see how his second act number, you’re Timeless To me, which he croons to Ball’s Edna ‘can be a real lovely moment’. ‘ Doing a duet with
Putting on the spritz: Paul Merton as Wilbur michael Ball is going to be fun,’ he said, adding: ‘I don’t think I’ll be giving alfie Boe anything to worry about’ (a reference to Ball’s long-time concert and recording pal) ‘unless I drag michael’s reputation down to the gutter.’
He’s quietly confident that’s not going to happen. ‘I’m aware of what I’ve got to do, and I’m hopeful of pulling it off,’ he told me, observing that the Coliseum does have a long tradition of comedy. ‘ The marx Brothers played there, as did Charlie Chaplin as a young man. I never thought I’d appear on the stage there.’
Ball and merton’s ‘ daughter’ Tracy Turnblad will be played by Lizzie Bea. Jonny aimes, Georgia anderson, Rita Simons, ashley Samuels, mari MCGINLAY and marisha Wallace are also principals in the company.